Mini Pumpkin..SOCO style

This is what I came up with last night.... Inspired by the new Fine Cooking OCT/NOV 2010 issue.

The recipe which I drew inspiration from was the:

 Acorn squash with rosemary and brown sugar  by Liz Pearson.

Ingredients:

• 1   2-lb  mini pumpkin, seeded, quartered and cut into 1 inch slices
• 2 TBSP  extra-virgin Olive oil
• 1 TBSP freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp  salt
• 1/2 cup Southern Comfort
• 2 TBSP brown sugar
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 lime, squeezed for its juice

For all those wondering.. What is Southern Comfort? Well let me tell you it's my latest obsession... Absolutley delish.. BTW.. It's a peachy- bourbon experience.... I usually love it with ice and orange juice...

Here's a link to SAQ to discover more about it:

http://www.saq.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&productId=56179&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=&top_category=



Directions:

• Rince the pumpkin. Leaving the skin on, cut in quarters, and then into about 1 inch slices. Remove the seeds, and try to leave as much of the loose flesh intact. You may save the seeds aside if you wish to prepare them for a snack for another time.
• In a 2.8L Stainless Steel sauce pan, heat up the olive oil on MED-HIGH heat. Once oil is hot, add the pumpkin slices. There might not be enough room for all slices, you may do this in batches or you may keep stirring the contents to ensure even browning. Add the salt and pepper.
• After about 10 minutes, you may lower the heat to LOW.
• In a small bowl, mix together the dry basil, Southern Comfort, brown sugar, lime juice. Add mixture to the pan. Stir the pumpkin and cover. Let cook for about 15-20 mins on LOW heat, stirring occasionally.
• You may remove from heat and serve. Be sure to add lots of that liquid in the pan to your plate, none of it should go to waste...too good to waste...

Here is how it looks once its all cooked in the pan...Sorry guys, no plated picture available.. I was too hungry!

MMMmmmm

New Fall Inspiration!!

Joanie! 

Yesterday I found inspiration for fall cooking which I LOVE....
I came across this magazine: Fine Cooking... And let me tell you.... I love it... I decided to go to the Marche 440 in Laval and get local veggies and start cooking!

Here is the my copy, and here is the cover of their Fall issue:

That cake is what drew me to open up that magazine....

Also I did get in spired from one of the recipes.. which of course i changed it to my likings... And what I had handy in the house....  :)

Spicy Veggie Delish

This is an Awesome mix I put together of veggies left over in the fridge. It has an Indian/Thai Flavour, and is really wonderful. A yummy addition to this meal would be Shimps!

Ingredients:

• 1 Zucchini, cut in 1 centimetre cubes
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 1 inch piece of ginger, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 hot pepper, chopped (your choice of pepper)
• 1 TBSP Sesame oil
• 8oz Fresh Spinach, washed and stems removed
• 8 Cherry Tomatoes, halved
• 1 TBSP Tomato Paste
• 6 TBSP Coconut Milk
• 1/4 tsp Cumin
• 1/2 tsp Tumeric
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 small handfull Chopped Fresh Coriander
• 1/2 lime, squeezed for it's juice

Directions:

• Chop, garlic, ginger, onions, hot pepper, cube the zucchini and place in hot non-stick frying pan ready with the sesame oil. Med- High temperature.
• Stir- fry in pan until onions become transluscent, at this time, you may add the spinch to the pan.
• Once spinach is wilted, lower the heat to Low-Med, you may add the cherry tomatoes, tomato paste, coconut milk, cumin, tumeric, salt. Stir well to ensure even distribution of spices.
• Turn off the heat once the tomatoes are soft. Add the coriander and squeeze the half lime ino the pan. Stir well, and serve.

Variations

• You may add shrimp to the mixture at the same time step you add the cherry tomatoes.
• You may serve on top of cooked basmati rice, or any rice you prefer.

Here is how my Spicy Veggie Delish turned out!!

MISO SOUP

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg  Button or Cafe Mushrooms (1pkg is 227g)
• 90g     Buckwheat Noodles (small handfull)
• 4cups Water
• 1 heaping TBSP MISO (soybean paste, Red or White)
• 3         Green Onions
• 1tsp    Sesame oil
• Cracked Black Pepper to taste

Directions:

• Place water to boil in a 2.4L saucepan with cover
• Slice mushrooms, set aside
• slice green onions, set aside
• Once water is boiling, add the mushrooms and pasta. Lower the temperaure to med-high to avoid overflow. Cook for 6-8 miniutes.
• Once the pasta is cooked. Turn off the heat.
• Stir in 1 heaping TBSP of MISO until dissolved.
• Add green onions, sesame oil and cracked black pepper

Variations:

• You may use ramen noodles, rice noodles, whichever you prefer.
• I also like to add some thin sliced raw beef to the soup
• You may keep it as simple as the MISO broth, with this soup you can make it any way you wish.

Here Is how My MISO SOUP turned out last night!!

Enjoy!

Sheppard's Pie

Inredients:

• 1 pound Lean Ground Beef

1 TBSP cracked black pepper

1 TBSP chilli flakes

½ cup BBQ sauce (I prefer Jack Daniel’s Spicy Original)

1 TBSP dry oregano
1 TBSP dry basil

½ cup bread crumbs

• 2-3 Onions
  
• 540mL Can of Cream Style Corn
  
• 2-3 large Sweet Potatoes
  
  
• 2-3 Medium white Potatoes
  


• A few pinches of Paprika

Directions:


-First, Mix the ground beef with all its seasonings in a bowl, set aside.


-Chop the onions, and fry in non-stick pan until golden, you may fry with a small amount of your choice of oil, set aside in a plate.


-Fry the ground beef in the same pan used for the onions, so that it will take flavour from the onions.


-Once beef is cooked, add the onions back in the pan for a few minutes, and then transfer over to a 9x9 inch baking pan.



You may now preheat the oven to 350 F.



-Peel and cut the potatoes into same sized cubes, about 1 inch in size. It’s your choice to either boil them in water or to steam, until they become soft.. This will take approx 10 minutes.


- Drain the potatoes once cooked, and place them back into the pot to be mashed. You may use a potato masher tool or you may also use a hand blender, until potatoes are smooth.


-It’s your choice to add any milk or butter. I omitted this step for my own recipe, as the sweet potatoes provide enough moisture for mashing, and rules out extra calories.



Now it’s time to assemble the pie.

-Open the can of Cream Style Corn, and spoon out the contents evenly over the meat mixture we had placed in the pan earlier.


-Spoon potatoes evenly on top and smooth over to even set the top layer.


-Sprinkle pinches of Paprika on top


-Place pan in oven for about 25 minutes, until potatoes have browned slightly.


If you’re in a rush, you can set the oven to Broil, and make sure to keep a close eye so that it doesn’t burn.

 
This is how my Sheppard's Pie turned out!!
 

 

My cookies!

Here is the Oatmeal cookies I made this morning from the recipe below.
Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

My Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoon molasses
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup oats
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup dried raisins

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 375°F.
2. Cream the butter, sugar and molasses together in a stand mixer. Beat until well combined and ‘creamy’. If you don’t have a stand mixer beat vigorously by hand in a large mixing bowl. Meanwhile whisk the flour, oats, salt, baking powder and salt together in a separate bowl.
3. Add the egg to the butter mixture and continue beating until well combined. Scrape down the bowl and gradually add the flour mix, beating just until combined. Stir in the dried raisins by hand. You may try using ground oats if you prefer a smoother cookie texture.
4. Using a tablespoon scoop out a ball of the dough and drop onto a lightly greased cookie tray. Flatten slightly. Repeat leaving lots of room in between the balls for the cookies to expand. Bake for twelve to fifteen minutes. Cool for two minutes then remove from the tray.

Its ready to eat, they shoud be fluffy and moist!

Next time I will try adding either nutmeg or cinnamon to the dry ingredient. I will let you know what the outcome is!